Author uses baseball to inspire youth

by Justin Dorsey

still0224-00000-1487983442264-5960800-ver1-0.jpg

BUTTE, Mont. - Jeremy Watterson is a huge baseball fan, and it's been that way most of his life. Watterson's passion led him to a job as color commentator for KVCK radio in his hometown as well as coaching little league.

"I've always been a baseball nerd. It's the game that has always appealed to me. I played it my whole life, and it's just the game that speaks to me. It has a long history in America and Montana," said Watterson.

That history is what inspired him to take on a new job as an author. He co-wrote a book about Montana's baseball history, which is a story he says young baseball players should know.

"As a boy growing up reading books about baseball, I can remember sitting and reading these books, and I just felt like if I do something like that for my kids then I could make another connection for this generation," he added.

Kim Kohn, from the Butte Archives, got a chance to work with Watterson during a seminar. She told us about his devotion to teaching.

"He's a great guy, just really casual and really comfortable to sit and talk with, and what really came across in that passion is the desire to educate young people, about not just the sport of baseball and the history of baseball," said Kohn.

During the writing process, Watterson and co-author Skylar Browning stumbled upon the Butte Elite Giants baseball team, the all-black team we found in our research at the Butte Archives.

"You have pockets of the population that are underrepresented, so any little bit of that I could help preserve and bring into the present day is important," said Watterson.

"To provide inspiration to a little girl or boy, that there is a world outside of Montana, and to shoot for the stars and make their dreams come true," he added.